Llanowar Elves has, in some sense, less than one-fifth the functionality of a Birds of Paradise. Not only does it only tap for green mana (rather than the full five colors like Birds of Paradise), but Llanowar Elves doesn't fly. While the flying ability of the generally noncombatant 0/1 Birds tends not to come up very often, memorable tales of "Bird Lightning" (Birds of Paradise + Reckless Charge) and miraculous Bird topdecks staving off lethal flying attackers have grown into legend... for a reason.

While it doesn't fly; while it doesn't tap for black, or blue, or red, or white, Llanowar Elves has always had two things going for it, making it a compelling partner to Birds of Paradise in decks looking to break the Rule of Four, and a choice over the Birds in many a successful list: 1) Llanowar Elves is an Elf, and more importantly 2) that 1 point of power.

Its positive power has been an important quality bringing players back to Llanowar Elves year after year. Llanowar Elves has carried Umezawa's Jitte into battle—and effectively—in spots where the Birds would not have been able to obtain a first charge counter. It has loaded the bases for Scab-Clan Mauler's second-turn cleanup. There have simply been many decks that have wanted a potential attacker (even when tiny) more than the flexibility of Birds of Paradise. Thus, both have contributed from the one; and from the very beginning.

Birds of Paradise's variations and different looks over the years have been relatively few and far between. The most significant would probably be Noble Hierarch—also a 0/1 creature that produces more than one kind of mana—but the Hierarch's sometimes-significance offensively and grounded stature can put it, arguably, more in the Llanowar Elves pile (and reasonably, still, as an echo to both but an update to neither).

Arbor Elf typically "taps for " because there is an implicit likelihood of having a basic Forest in play when you run it out there, but theoretically it can do more; for example, you could untap a Stomping Ground to produce . Arbor Elf isn't "better" than Llanowar Elves or anything; when you cast it with a Copperline Gorge, it is possible it won't be doing anything on turn two (but that isn't usually the case, no).

Of all the different looks and familiar variations on Llanowar Elves to date, the most special, and different (without breaking the basic model) has always been, to me, Elves of Deep Shadow.

Secondly, it is like there is a price associated with making rather than that resonates with that inner Vorthos that gave birth to even hardened Spikes. As we said with Arbor Elf, it is implicit that you can make already... so R&D is charging us a little something extra for that .

Third—and most exciting—is that Elves of Deep Shadow was the difference that made the difference! If you look back at the Top 8 of Pro Tour Berlin—the Pro Tour where Luis Scott-Vargas stepped up and showed the world just what the modern superstar of Pro Tour Magic was going to look like for the very first time, really—a key difference was that he had Elves of Deep Shadow.

So what is "the difference that makes the difference" in this case? Elves of Deep Shadow cost you a point of life in order to produce a . Avacyn's Pilgrim doesn't demand the same price for .

Sure, it makes less sense for to cost you extra to produce colored mana than . We expect black to be a jerkface about things like that. Black is the color of Necropotence, Ad Nauseam, Dystopia, and Dismember. We expect black to gouge us a little extra for something we want. On balance we might not be surprised for white to give us a point of life when we pick up our mana, "Here, my son... Have a life point with your white mana. Avacyn hearts you, et cetera."

Avacyn's Pilgrim isn't just a cool one-drop. Whether it is a tournament-viable card shouldn't even be a question on the table. Llanowar Elves is basically an evergreen, and even Boreal Druid (which basically taps for colorless) was situationally quite good. Avacyn's Pilgrim is something different: It is implicit that we already have green mana. As such, Avacyn's Pilgrim feels more to me like 2/3 of a Noble Hierarch, a less ornery Elves of Deep Shadow, both flexible and painless... not "just" another Llanowar Elves.

When I got this preview card, my editor Kelly Digges said to me, "I am told you will like this preview card," but it's more than that. Do I "like" it? Obv. Playable? Unambiguous.

... But what does it represent?

Green and white have been buddies from the time of the first Pro Tour. ErhnamGeddon much? This card seems to imply that they will continue to go forward, arms linked, and intimately.

There has been some move towards green-insensitivity in terms of colored mana costs, despite an overall tendency in recent years to make it easy to draw against different colors, for most decks. So no, despite the color bleed represented by the ubiquitous Dismember, Avacyn's Pilgrim isn't going to help you play a second-turn Leatherback Baloth, and maybe it's a good thing Garruk Relentless is such an easy-on-the-green option (as far as Garruks go)... because Avacyn's Pilgrim decks may have a little trouble producing the required to run out Garruk, Primal Hunter.

It isn't difficult to imagine times where we would like to play Avacyn's Pilgrim alongside Llanowar Elves, or times where we would like to play Avacyn's Pilgrim overLlanowar Elves. In particular I can think back to a time when the eight one-drop hotness was set up to run out a second-turn face-down creature, and morph up Exalted Angel on turn three. I would have gladly run Avacyn's Pilgrim rather than Llanowar Elves in that deck! You usually had , but not every time; Avacyn's Pilgrim would have helped a lot in that regard.